TIVO is a company which sells digital video recorders, also called TIVO, and the programming schedules needed to record your selections.
The TIVO device is a computer with built-in hard drive, connected to your TV, which records your TV shows for you. When the TIVO video recorders first arrived they were stand-alone units. You hooked them up to your TV and antenna or cable box
and enjoyed TV on your schedule instead of the TV networks schedule. These were the original Series 1 models. Later,
some manufacturers started offering the TIVO integrated into their
satellite receiver. Still later, the satellite TV companies sold their own
integrated DVR/receiver units. The Series 1 and the newer Series 2 stand-alone TIVO models are
basically the same size as a typical VCR but contain a hard disk drive to
store your video content in digital form. The latest TIVO is the Series 3 model which has High Definition video capability.

Hooking up your
stand-alone TIVO video recorder (DVR) with your TV is relatively easy.
However, if you add a cable box or separate satellite receiver and a VCR,
it starts to get involved. Your cable box or satellite receiver must be
compatible with the TIVO DVR if you require the TIVO to issue channel
changing commands to the cable/satellite tuner/receiver.

If you have a digital cable TV box, your TIVO has to change the channels on the cable box in order to automatically record your selections. One method is to connect an infrared emitter to act as a remote control for the cable box. Setting up the proper codes in the TIVO and placing the IR emitter over the cable box's infrared receiver, allows automatic channel changes.

Many people get their TV programs from
cable companies or satellite TV providers. The wide variety of channels is
so much greater than just your local over-the-air TV stations typically
limited to a half-dozen or so channels. When you get cable TV or satellite
TV service you have to pay for it and the signals coming from the
providers are typically scrambled. To un-scramble the signals so you can
watch your TV show you must use the providers receiver box which receives
the signals and turns them into something you can use. When using their
box, you must change channels on their receiver box so the box can
un-scramble that channel for you. Unless you have a dual-tuner or multiple
receiver/decoder boxes, you are limited to a single channel which the box
has un-scrambled. (Analog cable TV channels may be available
simultaneously if using a signal splitter.)

So now the problem
arises. How do I change channels on the cable/satellite de-scrambler box
so that the TIVO will record the proper channels as I have designated (or
as TIVO has designated) when I am not home or asleep?

Another method is to use a Serial cable for channel changes.

Serial cable - TIVO hookup to cable/satellite receiver
box

The TIVO recorder has two ports on the back
panel called CONTROL OUT. One is for a serial cable connection and the
other is for an IR (infra-red) cable connection. By using one of these
connections to your cable/satellite receiver box, the TIVO can send
signals to change channels. But just because the TIVO sends the signal to
change to a channel does not mean the channel necessarily gets changed.
Your cable/satellite box has to recognize the TIVO codes. Some
cable/satellite receiver boxes have a serial port on the back panel, but
if not, you have to use the IR connection. This results in a less than
elegant setup because you must place the IR emitters over the IR (remote
control) sensor in the cable/satellite receiver. Room dynamics can cause
interference with the IR signals and this can result in the wrong channel
or no channel change sometimes. A covering over the emitter and sensor can
improve results. You must configure, within the TIVO menus on-screen, your
specific configuration so the proper codes are sent. Any changes made by
the TIVO company such as upgrades or changes made by the cable or
satellite companies to receivers could create a situation whereby channels
no longer change correctly.

BACK PANEL

Digital Video Recorder Hookup
Diagram

With TiVo, you can pause, rewind,
slow-motion and even instant replay live TV, anytime. Your digital video
recorder with TiVo connects easily between your TV set and cable
box(digital or analog), VCR, and/or
antenna.

Here’s what you will need:

To view TV programs and access TiVo’s
programming ability, you’ll need fourRF/coaxial cables, one signal splitter, and two phone
cables, plus three Audio/Video sets of cables (composite video and stereo
audio). Run one RF/coax cable from your Cable TV/ Antenna wall outlet to
the signal splitter. Run a second RF/coaxcable
from the splitter to the VCR RF input, so you can watch TV using the tuner
in either your cable box or VCR. Run a thirdRF/coax cable from the splitter to your cable box, and a
fourth RF/coax cable from the cable box output to your Digital Video
Recorder RF input. Only the cable box can de-scramble digital channels and
then pass them to the TIVO. Regular unscrambled analog channels, if any,
can be handled by the tuner in the cable-ready VCR.

Next, run a phone cable from the phone
wall outlet to your cable box, and a second phone cable to your DVR. (TIVO
needs this phone access to update the program guide data and download
other updates from time to time)